Diocesan News
Living out the stewardship of the diaconate, Deacon Forshay and his wife have opened their hearts to children with autism and multiple disabilities and invited them to their summer home at the beach.
Visit To Beach Brightens Lives Of Special Students
~ By Cecile San Agustin
The Beacon (www.patersondiocese.org)
HAWTHORNE, N.J. (The Beacon) -- As summer concluded, the students at the Phoenix Center in Nutley, N.J., could look back on a collection of summer memories to last for a lifetime thanks to Deacon George Forshay and his wife Mary, parishioners of St. Anthony Parish here.
Living out the stewardship of the diaconate, Deacon Forshay and his wife have opened their hearts to children with autism and multiple disabilities and invited them to their summer home at the beach. Geraldine Gibbia, co-founder and executive director of the Phoenix Center said, “For many of these students, it is their first experience of the shore. Some of them have never seen the ocean before. To see their eyes when they spy a wave for the first time, or catch their first crab or feel the lake¹s breeze on their faces as they zoom in the boat with ‘Captain George,’ as they call him, this is surely seeing the face of God.” The couple became involved with the Phoenix Center, when Gibbia, a former parishioner of St. Anthony, would invite fellow parishioners in ministry to the school back in 1991. Gibbia, who moved to Wycoff, N.J., and now attends a parish closer to home, still kept in touch with many friends from the parish including Deacon Forshay and his wife. When their daughter Lauren became a teacher at the school, the Forshays got more involved with the Phoenix Center. Mary Forshay, who is a lifelong parishioner at St. Anthony, said, “Dr. Gibbia took Lauren under her wing when she decided to do teaching instead of finance. We would visit the school when they would have concerts and see what wonderful work the Phoenix Center was doing. That¹s when we thought the students give us so much, its time to give back to them.” For the past two years, the Forshays and 10 to 12 students and staff members would take a road trip to Manasquan Beach every Wednesday in July. “Captain George” would take the children for a ride in his speedboat, teach them to crab and along with Mary, sets up a tent city on the beach. Mary also prepares a barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, watermelon, lemonade and her “very special castle cake,” said Gibbia. For Forshays, this newfound tradition now makes summer complete. They are looking forward to bringing the students from the Phoenix Center to the shore again next summer. So moved by the experience, the Forshays remember sitting down together one day reflecting. They remember they started to cry because of the lives they¹ve changed and in fact because their lives were also changed. “We plan on doing this as long as we are able to,” said Deacon Forshay, who is director of Browning-Forshay Funeral Home here. Mary recalls fondly, “One of the kids said on the way home from one of the trips that was the best vacation they ever went on. Even if it was just for few hours.” Bringing the kids to the shore also got many of the Forshay¹s shore house neighbors involved. “That first year we did this, they kind of looked at us and wondered ‘what are George and Mary doing?’” he said. This Christian witness the couple gave, inspired their neighbors this year to give a helping hand. “They are very welcoming and hospitable. You just feel how much they care about the kids and that it¹s all about the kids,” said Gibbia “George and Mary are really living out their ministry.” Msgr. George Hundt, pastor of St. Anthony¹s, said, “George and Mary are certainly faith-filled people. They are just generous in terms of wanting to help others. That comes out in a lot of different ways not only in the parish here but their various connections to organizations.” Deacon Forshay, who was ordained to the diaconate in 1995, felt the call to the diaconate right from college and has called his service, “a wonderful, wonderful journey.” At St. Anthony¹s, the Forshays are involved with the parish¹s hospitality ministry and are also helping build the community¹s commitment to be a full stewardship parish. The Forshays definitely credit their desire to give to the students because of the staff at the Phoenix Center who they consider “the real heroes who serve the children every day.” Currently, 145 students are enrolled at the school and the staff has a 1:1 ratio with the children ensuring all their needs are met. The school serves children from 54 towns and nine counties with most students coming from Passaic, Essex and Morris County, N.J. Called the Phoenix Center so students like the ancient phoenix may have a second chance to rise to new freshness, the school focuses on the development and education of children with severe development disabilities and their families. One of the hopes the Forshays have because of this experience is that more and more people get involved with helping others. “Everything we do in the name of Jesus Christ is our Christian duty and that is to help and share with others. It makes you want to do more when you give to people and we are thankful to God we are able to do that,” said Deacon Forshay. “The Forshays, in my mind, embody what stewardship is all about. They live in such a way so they may give to people and seek the ways they can,” said Msgr. Hundt.
This story was made available to Catholic Online by permission of The Beacon (www.patersondiocese.org), official newspaper of the Diocese of Paterson, N.J.
Copyright © 2006 Catholic Online
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